"In two decades of successful project work, we have been able to help many people in need with our community development programmes in Nepal and India – always under our guiding principle of empowering people and self-help. My sincerest thanks go to our long-time supporters, whose compassion and generosity has enabled us to reach as many as 45,000 people with our activities to date"

27. February 2019

14. February 2019

Our projects in Nepal and India

The forgotten people in the Himalaya – A few years back, in Mugu, the average life expectancy was only 44 Years. Meanwhile this has increased, but the living conditions in the region continue to be harsh and deeply impacted by poverty, food insecurity, and a lack of infrastructure and services. Mother & child mortality in Mugu still is one of the highest in the world. In order to improve the well-being of children and communities, Back to Life’s engagement focusses on education, health, and income generation. Our projects include construction of schools and birth centres, trainings in agriculture, hygiene, health care, as well as informal saving and loan groups. We also offer support to receive emergency medical care and take active measures to protect the environment and natural resources.

Hope for the ‘untouchables’ – In our project area many families belong to ethnic minorities, such as the Dalits, who are considered untouchable by the Nepali society. They are often very poor and experience various forms of discrimination under the old caste system. To support these families, we provide trainings on hygiene, health care, agriculture, microcredit groups, and income generation, support early childhood education centres and schools, including direct scholarships for children of particularly poor families.

Building back after the disaster – Our new project area, Nuwakot, was hit particularly hard by the earthquake in 2015. In order to offer children living in the affected villages a future as bright as possible, we rebuildt 7 destroyed schools till today and, if necessary, are also willing to expand our support beyond schools. Many families were left with nothing but their lives, and did not only loose their homes under all the debris, but also their hope for a better life.

Immediate emergency assistance – When the catastrophic earthquake hit Nepal in 2015 and killed almost 9,000 souls, Back to Life decided in a heartbeat to provide emergency assistance in several regions of Nepal. At the beginning, we focused on providing urgent medical care through mobile health camps and shelter through temporary camps. Then, we started to support children and adults with trauma counselling and the reconstruction of the first schools.

Altering individuals’ fates – In our line of work, we frequently come across medical emergencies, especially amongst children. In such cases, we secure their survival and recovery through direct and long-term support. This may include organizing transport from hard-to-reach regions to hospitals, paying for urgently needed surgeries, hospital stays, as well as medical treatment, and any kind of further support the child or family may require for a full recovery.

Our first project started in 1996: Medical help and social support for Lepers. From therapy up to rehabilitation – it was a long way for around 200 “untouchables” to return back into their lifes. Back to Life took also care about 120 street children and children from slums with a lepracy background. In our children homes they grew up in a secure and non-violent way. In 13 non-formal schools hundrets of kids from the slums got teached who had no chances to visit regular schools. After more than 20 years we phased out our projects in Benares because we see our mission as fulfilled. Since 2018 we focus on our projects in Nepal.